Thursday, October 27, 2011

Where to begin...

Well it's been so long since I've blogged I feel like I've lived one or two lifetimes. A few important things/highlights:

1. I decided listing 1300 things to be grateful for feeds into my OCD side in a bad way and I will blog about things I am grateful for in a more organic and less forced way.

2. I had a bad flare with my IBD and a short course of steroids did the trick. I am now steroid-free again and happy. Turns out I like being healthy.

3. I had a wonderful week of Fairbanks fall where everything was golden. My sister and her husband came up and we had the best week of weather. We went riding in the White Mountains, ate lots of good local food and took walks in Creamer's Field. It was idyllic.

4. We just got back from a great trip to NYC which is always a treat. I am so happy I got better in time to go. We got to spend time with Mary and Ryan and Ilene and Lyle were also able to come for part of the time. The food, the people, the fashion inspiration... the list goes on. We got to ride bikes all the way through Central Park this trip which was really fun. We also got to experience the Planetarium at the Natural History Museum which was amazing! Mia was old enough to go to a Broadway show this time so we all went to the Lion King together which was unbelievable.

5. After gorging ourselves on amazing NYC food for two weeks, one of our last nights there we watched a documentary about eating more vegetables. It was fairly persuasive and so I came home with a renewed vigor as well as inspiration from delicious food we got to eat, to use more whole foods and fruits and vegetables in my cooking. I am using Heidi Swanson's book, Super Natural Everyday, and trying to work my way through the entire book. So far this week I have made Wild Rice Casserole, Baked Oatmeal, and am eying the Black Sesame Otsu for later this weekend. I also found a recipe online for Eggplant Parmesan, written by the guys from Torrisi's, one of our favorite restaurants in NYC. The family has been really happy with the results so far and I am really enjoying cooking new things.

Now for some pictures!

Lady Liberty, even more gorgeous in person!

Adorable newlyweds Mary and Ryan.

Jason pushing Mia at her favorite playground in Central Park, we actually had to stand in line for the swings since we went on Columbus Day and about one million other people had the same idea.

Got to visit MOMA which was something I've been wanting to do; it was really cool to see Starry Night in person.

Jason's Dad and Mom enjoying the great weather on Liberty Island.

I'll post some more pictures (including some of the food I've been cooking) in the next few days. Glad to be back!